Coloccini asks to head home

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew was attempting to head off a fresh crisis after captain Fabricio Coloccini's continued presence on Tyneside was thrown into doubt.

Press Association Sport understands the 30-year-old Argentina international has not submitted a formal transfer request, but has indicated his desire to return to South America for personal reasons, although the club was not commenting on the matter on Friday.

Coloccini signed a four-year contract extension last March, but he has struggled to reproduce his stunning form of last season with Newcastle under-performing as a team, while Pardew acknowledged there had been a difference of opinion between the two as the busy Christmas programme approached.

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